School Proposes Tightening Interventions for Low Grades

Parnell Secondary Principal Dale Healy requested that the Worth County School Board adopt tighter standards allowing the school to intervene when a student gets a zero on their homework. The current policy is that they go to intervention study hall when they get a D+ or lower grade on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of each week. Healy said that the school now has the ability to detect when a student is not doing work thanks to the automated grading system put in place and that they can intervene earlier as a result. Students would be assigned under the new plan if they get a 0, a star grade, or what Healy called "zero quality work," or, for instance, a student getting only 5 points out of 20 on an assignment. He said that would help avoid problems where students could try to get out of going by getting a 1.





Under the proposal, students with no zeros will have the option of participating in other activites during intervention hall; Healy said he wanted to focus on ways of rewarding students with no zeros. Students who are required to be in an intervention study hall who do not bring work and necessary materials would get an alternate assignment. Students who skip out of study hall would receive multiple after-school detentions.





The objective under the plan would be for the student to finish the assignment. There would be teachers paired up with students; for instance, math teachers would be paired up with students getting zeros in math. Healy said that there would be committee meetings that would work out the logistics and that they would come back to the board with a proposal next month. Board members were supportive; Richard Mullock said that it would help with situations later in life both in college and in work situations. Healy said that the school already sends notes out to parents of students with zeros and doesn't wait for mid-terms to notify them.

In other action, the board named Jubal Summers board president, Karen Fletchall vice president, Sherri Runde treasurer, and Candy Sorensen secretary.

Suzi Smith gave a report on the 7th and 8th grade science and Physical Science classes that she was teaching. She said that her students were making extensive use of the laptops to make brochures of the human digestive and respiratory systems. They were doing so using the Microsoft Publisher software.

Superintendent Matt Robinson asked the board for feedback regarding the reading of the school policies that is done monthly. Richard Mullock said that the current procedure, where the board gives policies two readings before adoption, was a good one because it prevented things from getting pushed through without deliberation. He thought that the board could have more input in the drafting of policies; Robinson said that the school board policies were normally ones that came from the state. Jubal Summers said that another advantage of the current process was that it helped new board members get up to speed on the policies of the school. All board policies are online at the school's website; the policy that is online is the one that the school is bound by.

The board voted to transfer $187,205 from the General Fund to the Capital Fund. This is the money that will go towards the heating and cooling project as well as other possible expenses. The school typically keeps the money in the General Fund every year until it is needed.

Duane Warner was present to discuss the next phase of the heating and cooling project for the school. They went from a 10 ton/12 ton system to two 12 ton systems for the gym, which Warner said would be cheaper since he would not have to get two different sets of parts for the two systems. Other changes included addition of some duct work. The fans would still be there to supplement the system in the event of a large crowd. The system would have sensors that would adjust the level. Two potential problems that Warner identified were pressurization and condensation. Warner said that with the exhaust fan, pressurization should not be too much of a problem while he said that if the school set the system before it became hot and humid, condensation on the floor should not be a problem.

The board voted to authorize Superintendent Matt Robinson to go below the 18% threshold that they had previously set in order to complete the second phase of the project for $91,776. They also decided to give Robinson the discretion to spend out of either this year's or next year's budget. The board had decided to set a reserve threshold of 18% of their annual expenses that they could not go under except for capital improvements, maintaining existing programs, and keeping current staffing levels.

After a brief discussion, the board decided to keep the current registration policy, in which all visitors have to register at the main office.

The board voted to pursue two grants. One was for a corporate grant for science equipment for Tish Warner's classroom that would not require a match. The other was for a Family Consumer Science grant that would require a $5,000 match by the school.